1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a simplified cable pickup and manipulative tool especially designed for safe and easy handling of elongated electrical cables and the like. More particularly, it is concerned with such a tool having an elongated, insulative rod, and cable pickup structure secured adjacent one end of the latter which preferably includes a pair of arcuate, spiral, hook-like, cable-engaging fingers such that the tool can be rotated axially to pick up and captively engage a cable, whereupon the latter can be moved and shifted as necessary.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Work in mines and other subterranean excavations demands exclusive use of electrical equipment, inasmuch as the exhaust from gasoline powered motors and engines cannot be tolerated in these areas. As a consequence, the practice has long been to string very long high voltage cables into mines for hookup with the equipment being used therein. At the same time however, the confined area and mine working conditions do not admit of storing such cables in a safe, permanent location. Hence, it very often occurs that mine workers must manually shift and move electrical cables. To give but one example, when electrical equipment is moved deeper underground in a mining operation, it is necessary to pick up the electrical cables and pull these along with the equipment.
In the past, cable movement has been accomplished simply by having mine workers manually grasp the cables and move them to a desired location. This practice has a number of obvious and serious drawbacks. First, rough and rocky conditions within mine shafts tend to abrade and even break the insulation provided about the highly energized (normally 440 volt) electrical cables; and this in turn makes it extremely hazardous for workers to manually pick up and handle the cables. This problem is further compounded by virtue of the wet conditions often encountered in mines, which of course tends to heighten the possibility of electric shock.